


Assumptions

by Higgystar



Category: Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Kink Meme, mentions of child abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-07
Updated: 2014-06-07
Packaged: 2018-02-03 19:07:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1754837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Higgystar/pseuds/Higgystar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt from the kink meme: Glenn assumes that Merle is the one responsible for the scars on Daryl's body and whilst being forced to share a living space with the man, he confronts him about it all and lets his thoughts be known.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Assumptions

Merle can see the way they look at him and the assumptions they make about him despite only knowing him for barely a few months after the end of the world. These people that Daryl had let himself get close to sneered at him when they thought he couldn’t see, they all thought they knew what kind of a man he was and assumed that because they’d lived at camp with him for a few months. He hated the assumptions the most and it was galling when Daryl never tried to defend him either, as if his brother was expecting him to do something to show he was different instead.

He hates that the most, the fact that Daryl, his baby brother who he’d practically raised himself wasn’t on his side in all of this. They’d been separated before due to various reasons, some that were his fault and some that weren’t, but every time he came back the only change in Daryl was he’d gotten taller or grown a little. Now after a few months and a group of bad influences around him, it was as if Daryl was a completely different person. And though it’s frustrating as hell to see him so different Merle sticks around, or course he does, where else would he go?

The prison sucks. There’s nothing to do, nowhere to go, he can’t get any of his frustration out on anybody or any walkers, there’s no library or any real work to do to ease of the growing anxiety over Woodbury rising up. It grates on them all, making everyone on edge, ready to snap at anyone that got near. Of course it’s in his nature to be a nosy bastard, and heck when he’s trying to find his way around his new home of course he’s going to step on some people’s toes. It’s not his fault, they’re all too sensitive anyway and he needs something to do since Daryl is going on watch with his new best friend Rick.

Rick. Damn he hates Officer Friendly and he doesn’t think he’s even spent more than a few minutes with the man at a time. The whole handcuff incident was bad enough, that was quite a way to start off on the wrong foot, but now the man was taking control of Daryl and that was really pushing his buttons. His whole life he’s done everything he could for Daryl, now he knew he hadn’t been good enough since his brother’s back was as fucked up as his own, and Rick’s only been with him a few months and Daryl is looking at the cop with that look. The same look he used to be on the receiving end of, the only one in the world that Daryl would look at with such trust.

It burns enough to know Daryl saw him so differently now, and it’s a constant burn of frustration in the back of his mind, so when someone dares to question his relationship with Daryl, it’s like waving a red rag to a bull.

The Chinaman, sorry Korean, is the worst. Since he’d been gone the asshole had gone and grown a pair and started sticking it to the pretty farm girl, getting himself a backbone and taking the beating better than Merle had thought he would. Little shit had gone and gotten tough, and now it seemed he had a fucking death wish. Glenn glares at him the most, he makes it clear he doesn’t want Merle left alone with the girls at any point in time and it’s one of those days today where it’s the majority of them all bored in the main cell block whilst Rick and Daryl head up to go on watch.

“Get your scrawny ass up there Darylina, you need to practice your shot anyway, ain’t so on target from a distance.” He snickers, ruffling at Daryl’s hair as his brother goes past and he can feel Glenn’s glare on his back when he uses that nickname.

Daryl snorts, shoving at him a little in jest as he adjusts his bow a little. “Shut the hell up Merle, my shot’s just fine.” His little brother huffs, always so easy to rile up into a tizzy and of course why stop when he could push a little further?

“Oh yeah? Don’t come back down until you’ve nailed a walker in the eye from the top of the tower. Bet we won’t see you until sundown.” Merle shoves him back a little harder with his prosthetic, his knife having been removed since no one seemed to trust him with it in the cellblock. Of course Daryl swats back at him before leaving, following Rick out to the watchtower and leaving him alone with the rest of the group.

“Makes me glad I only ever had sisters.” Glenn doesn’t even bother to keep his voice down, clearly not caring if Merle overhears him and sometimes he wonders if the boy wants to go another round. “Wouldn’t want an older brother anything like you.” He sneers and Merle grimaces as he turns on his heel to face the other man, noting the way the little blonde girl holds the baby tighter.

“Excuse me?” Merle can already feel the anger rising, his dislike of the other man mixing with the silent assumption that he knows anything about his relationship with Daryl.

“You think we don’t know?” Glenn snorts and though his pretty little Bo Peep places a hand on his arm to calm him down, it doesn’t work and soon enough the Asian is in his face, still glaring and hissing at him despite called warnings from the rest of the group. “Since you got back here it’s like Daryl’s gone backwards, when he’s around you he acts like he did before, back at the quarry.”

Cocking his head to the side he watches the other man closely, seeing the fire in his eyes and how he’s ready for a fight. There’s no other way for this to end and the fact Glenn was daring to talk about his baby brother was enough to get him angry enough to want to fight. “You got something to say to me you’d better just come out and say it.” He sneers, steeling his face, not willing to give anything away and just wanting to set the other man straight.

Glenn doesn’t back down and Merle finds that amusing, to see how much this world has changed people so easily when he’d just taken it in his stride. He watches as Glenn stands before him, meeting his eye dead on and clearly trying to put as much anger behind each word as possible. “Let’s put it this way, I hate having you around Daryl just as much as I hate having you around anyone else. You’re an animal and the way you treat him is disgusting.”

Snorting at that he grins a little. “You assume you know so much about me you slitty eyed little shit, fact is you don’t know anything about me, or Daryl.” Because this was just how they always were. He and his brother always fell back into the same routine, and though others might call it bullying, it was just teasing, them being brothers to each other. These people knew nothing about them and he didn’t have time to waste trying to please them all when he knew Daryl was just fine with it all. Only person he cared about was his brother, screw the rest of these ass holes.

“I know about the scars, we all do.”

And he pauses then, letting the smile fall from his face as he watches Glenn, and he can see the look of satisfaction on his face at catching him off guard. These people had known about the scars before he had? What the fuck? When Glenn continues talking he doesn’t look pleased, he just looks angry but relieved in a way, and Merle can tell from his words that this has been building up for a while, way before he’d beaten the shit out of the other man.

“We know he flinches more when you’re around, he’s quieter, like he’s bracing himself for a fight and ready to take a beating. You treat him like shit, I have no idea why the hell Daryl is so loyal to you. If you were my brother I would have left you in Atlanta instead of going back for you. I don’t know if Daryl is a glutton for punishment, or if it’s some kind of fucked up Stockholm syndrome, but I hate how you treat him. Daryl is my friend and if I have to stand up to you and tell you to back the hell off and leave him alone, then I will to protect him. He doesn’t deserve any of the shit you’ve given him over the years and maybe I wasn’t there to help before all of this when you hurt him the first time, but I’m here now and I’m not going to let you hurt him anymore or give him any more scars.”

For a moment he can’t move, Glenn’s words just wash over him as he tries to understand exactly what he’s saying. They think he did that to Daryl? He’d only seen the scars for the first time the other day and he knew exactly how hard you had to hit someone to do that kind of damage. How could they think he’d do that to him? Sure he was an asshole, and over the years Daryl had gotten some injuries through their relationship, but nothing permanent. Nothing like that. “You think that I was the one-“

“You belittle him constantly. Calling him Darylina, calling him a pussy, picking on him, beating him down, making him think less of himself. He’s never going to be good enough for you is he Merle? You made sure he knew that years ago.” Glenn is in his face, breathing heavy, fists clenched by his side and not backing down, just fuelling his anger and confusion.

It’s as if everything inside of him just builds up into one huge cloud of anger, flowing over him until he can’t see anything else but Glenn’s smug face and hear the words he’d been saying repeating through his mind. They thought he would do that to Daryl? They thought he was anything like that monster?

He throws the first punch as always but now he’s not restrained Glenn fights back, scrappy in his technique but this wasn’t about giving a show, it was about pain. Merle takes the hit across his nose easily, taking the pain and jabbing at the man’s ribs, tuning out the sound of screams and the baby crying around him and focussing on the man before him. Glenn kicks, hits at his chest, his stomach and he takes a few jabs before giving them back, catching the man in his still healing ribs with his prosthetic and leaving him winded.

“You think I did that?” He bellows, breathing heavy, heartbeat thudding through his ears and he just doesn’t care about anything anymore except for setting this asshole straight. The look in Glenn’s eyes says more than words ever could and in a second Merle is yanking off his shirt, uncaring of the gasps around him and snarling as he grabs Glenn by the shirt, shoving him against the wall to keep his attention and make sure this got through to him. “What I went and gave myself a matching set too huh?”

It seems Glenn doesn’t quite know where to look for a second, whether to meet his eyes or take in the scars that litter his chest and Merle knows the other members in the room can see the ones on his back. He doesn’t give him a chance to look away though, sneering at the man constantly and pinning him to the wall by grinding the end of his prosthetic into Glenn’s shoulder. “No, you don’t get to ignore this and keep assuming you know shit about me or my baby brother.” Pointing to one on his side he makes sure Glenn’s eyes settle on it for a moment before he continues. “Wanna know how I got this one? Huh?”

“Merle-“

“No you’re so sure you know me and Daryl? You tell me how I got this scar then.” Merle knows he’s breathing heavy but he doesn’t give a shit, not right now, not when he’s got to set him straight.

“I don’t-“ Glenn stumbles over his words, eyes flicking back and forth over Merle’s chest and he grinds his stump further into his shoulder to catch his attention again.

“I got it from dragging our dad’s sorry ass away from my baby brother. I stopped that dick from beating the shit out of him and took a broken beer bottle to the side for my efforts.” Glenn tries to look away, his eyes wanting to dart to the floor but he’s not having it, not now, not when this little shit had the balls to dare say that shit about him. Slapping the man across the face he gets his attention again, pointing to another scar on his shoulder roughly. “And this one? This one is from when Daryl was five. Five years old and that prick was going to belt him and he would have done if I hadn’t stepped in front of him.”

Glenn looks frantic, upset and apologetic but this isn’t going to stop until he’s sure the point has been made. “Merle I didn’t know.”

“No, you don’t know shit.” He snarls, moving to grab at Glenn’s shirt, twisting his fingers in the fabric and shoving the man against the wall again, hard. “You don’t know how fucking shit we had it. I was eleven when he was born. Eleven; and I suddenly had a newborn baby to look after because mom was too busy smoking and drinking herself into oblivion to care and I weren’t going to leave dad to look after him. I had to learn how to be a parent to my own brother because no one else were gonna do it. I had to learn how to change diapers and make formula and raise a kid that weren’t even mine for fuck’s sake.” He snaps, angry at Glenn, angry at the world for ever putting him in that position and angry that these people thought they knew him at all.

Before him the kid looks to be in pain, but that’s good, that meant he’d remember this just as he remembered every scar on his body. Pain had a way of making the memories stick. Fingers grab at his arm, someone’s pushing at his chest and that little Bo Peep is there beside he and Glenn, trying to pry him off and get Glenn free. But he’s not done and he’s not willing to stop until he knows they’ve all been put in their place. Pressing harder he can feel Glenn wince and he’s glad this is starting to make his point.

“Yeah maybe I am a little tough on him sometimes, but I spent my life trying to teach him how to survive, we never had time or the luxury for us to be all hugs and kisses and shit.” His voice is low, not yelling or shouting, just harsh in tone and making sure Glenn and his pretty girl listened properly. “I was too busy making sure he got to eat, making sure his arm weren’t broken after a beating I couldn’t stop, and making sure that my baby brother was able to survive. Maybe I’m not the best brother in the world, but he’s still alive right now and that’s because of me, so screw you all, that’s good enough.”

More fingers grab at him, trying to wrench him away and he’s aware that he’s been pinning Glenn more and more forcefully, enough to bruise him for at least a week on his shoulders. Not that he cares, the fingers grabbing at his shirt and whispered pleas for him to let go mean nothing. The baby is still crying in the distance and all he can remember is being the only one to respond to that noise in the past. It makes him want to beat the shit out of the Asian again, but more arms are pulling at him, trying to get him off and though he could fight them off he’s got more important things to do.

“Daryl is my baby brother. He’s the only person on this earth that I give a shit about and maybe I ain’t perfect, but I would never, ever hurt him.” They make him let go of Glenn and that pretty girl is holding up her man, stroking over his face but Glenn gaze never leaves Merle. Pointing a finger in his direction he makes sure he knows how serious he is when he speaks again. “I’d kill anyone who tried you hear me?”

Everyone’s looking panicked, almost scared as they look at him, Bo Peep and Glenn looking upset, Mousey looks resigned almost and that blonde is still trying to calm the baby in the distance. “Merle.” Spinning on his heel he finds the hands that dragged him backwards belong to his brother and Officer Friendly. The cop looks a mix of pissed and upset, clearly stuck between understanding and wanting to toss his ass out of here for hurting Glenn. Beyond them stands the cop’s kid, his gun out and trained on him, and not for a second does Merle doubt that he would pull the trigger if he had to.

Daryl ain’t looking at him, or anyone else for that matter. His brother seems to have found the floor between his feet the most interesting thing in the world and Merle wonders exactly how much of it all he’d heard. Not that Daryl didn’t already know all of it, they just never spoke of it out loud. Ever.

“C’mon.” Daryl nods for him to follow him, leading the way out of the cell block and leaving Merle to snatch up his shirt and trail after him. He can’t help but sneer a little as he passes the cop, just daring him to try and start something right now when he’s about ready to try and convince Daryl to leave with him again. Rick doesn’t and he’s actually kind of grateful for that.

They leave the group in the main cell block, Daryl leading him through a trail of hallways silently until they reach the block opposite the main one. One of the cells is cleaner than the others and Merle isn’t surprised to find a few boxes of supplies set inside of it, a back up in case they couldn’t make it back to their main base. Daryl busies himself hunting through the supplies and Merle leans against the wall watching him, noting just how much his little brother has grown over the years. “You pissed at me?” He asks.

All he gets is a shrug in return and Daryl gestures for him to sit on the bunk, bringing out medical supplies to get him fixed up. It feels almost like old times, this is something they both know, something easy to fall back into when he could tell Daryl was on edge. His baby brother goes through the motions, cleaning his knuckles on his hand and checking the broken skin there, Merle isn’t surprised when Daryl merely glances at the blood on his prosthetic and doesn’t do anything about it. He figures it’s still too much for him to deal with after everything.

It’s when Daryl is pressing a damp cotton wad to the bridge of his nose that he can really watch him, and Merle can see the worry around his eyes. He was most likely worried that Merle had managed to get them both thrown out after all of that, but he feels fairly certain he was justified in his actions and Rick should see that. When Daryl places a steristrip across the cut on his nose he reaches up to grab his wrist, holding his brother steady and meeting his eyes as he talks. “They thought I was the one that gave you your scars.” Daryl glances away a little, his baby brother always finding the topic uncomfortable to go through at the best of times, let alone after a whole display in front of everyone. “You know I’d never do that to you right?”

“I know.” And Merle feels a little better since Daryl answered so fast, but he can still see the unease in his brother’s body. He doesn’t let go of his wrist just yet.

“They had no right to say that shit about me.”

“I know Merle.” Daryl nods along, moving to sit beside Merle on the bunk and giving a sigh as he watches the floor. Neither of them are good at this sort of shit, but it was probably something that had been a long time coming.

Merle sits beside him for a while in awkward silence, the two of them not sure exactly how to do this at all. He wants to talk about it with Daryl and make sure he knew how he felt, and make sure he knew just how much he meant to him. But instead he finds himself focussing on the other thing that had made him angry. “You never told ‘em how you got ‘em?” He asks, shrugging a little and hating that this was so hard for them both.

“Never came up.” Daryl mutters, chewing on his thumb a little and smirking a little when Merle swats his hand back down. He knows that’s bullshit. There was no way that Daryl could have lived with these people for long and never had them ask, if they knew about the scars then they’d have ask about them. Everyone always does. Daryl sighs a little before continuing with the truth. “I didn’t want to tell them, but I never thought they’d think it was you Merle.”

He nods a little at that, he believes that Daryl would have defended him if that had ever been mentioned, he knows that his little brother would never have let that stand. The worst insult to either of them would to be compared with their father and he knows anything like that would have sent Daryl off the edge and he’d have made sure the group knew it. His baby brother looks on edge, chewing on his lower lip since his thumb is out of bounds for the moment and heck if they’re going to be awkward then they might as well go the whole hog.

“You know I love you right?” He tries to meet Daryl’s eyes but his brother is still watching the floor, glancing up for only a second before avoiding him again with a nod. “I know I weren’t always there and I’m sorry for that, but I had my own shit to deal with and I couldn’t be around him. I really would have killed him Daryl and then I would never have been able to come back to you. I’m sorry I weren’t able to stop him from doing that shit to you, but you know I would never have let him if I were there.” Daryl hangs him head further and Merle isn’t sure if he’s doing this right at all. “You’re my baby brother Daryl and I’m proud of you. You’re twice the man that I could ever be and I love you.”

“Love you too Merle.” And Daryl really isn’t looking at him when he talks, instead he’s kicking at the floor, watching the wall and Merle doesn’t even rib him when he wipes at his eyes. “You know I don’t blame you for any of the shit he did right? It weren’t your fault, I know if you could’ve taken me with you, you would’ve. No matter what they all think out there, you’re my big brother Merle, and I know how much you’ve done for me. I know you care, they just…they don’t get us.”

Merle knew that much, a lot of people didn’t understand them so easily. It was as if everyone else grew up in a perfect world where there was nothing but hugs, kisses, sunshine and puppies and when they didn’t act the way everyone else did, they just didn’t understand. It weren’t their fault they were so fucked up, everyone else just needed to give them the benefit of the doubt and let them be. Placing his hand between Daryl’s shoulder blades he rubs there softly, just letting the moment between them linger and actually taking the time to feel close for once. “We really ain’t too good with this mushy shit are we?”

Daryl chuckles, shaking his head and leaning against him briefly for a moment, sharing the mirth with him. “I think that’s the problem, people expect us to be hugging and shit now we’re together again and don’t understand that we’re just not like that.” Merle knows they aren’t. They may not do that sort of thing, but they showed they cared in other ways, like how Daryl had just helped stick him back together and how he’d yelled the other down. It was different, but it worked for them. They knew and that was enough for them both.

“You know I ain’t apologising to them for all of that?” He points out, his stubbornness creeping in and mixing with the knowledge that he’d done what was needed.

“You don’t gotta.” Daryl stands, pacing a little before him as he speaks. “Just stay here for a while okay? I’ll go deal with it, wipe the slate clean and shit.” He shrugs as if he’s not bothered by it at all, watching as Daryl leaves the cell and counting to ten before he follows him. Daryl is light on his feet and a sneaky bastard when he wants to be, but the boy didn’t have the training he did and soon enough he’s standing by the door of the main cell block out of sight and listening to his baby brother deal with the situation.

He can hear Glenn already and though he can’t see it he can imagine the Asian getting up from his seat to approach Daryl carefully, looking all sympathetic and shit that Daryl hated. Things would be different now that the whole group knew about their past properly and a part of him feels guilty for revealing it all without Daryl’s permission, but it had been worth it and for a good cause. Leaning on the wall he smirks when he listens in on the conversation.

“Daryl I’m so sorry. I didn’t know-“

“No you didn’t know and you still don’t know shit about me or Merle. Save your apologies, I don’t want ‘em.” He can hear Daryl pacing around, probably taking the time to look over all the group in there and direct his words to all of them. “You just don’t get it. You see Merle after a few months of walkers and think you all know him? You don’t know shit. He looked after me my whole life, he practically fucking raised me and you go accuse him of hurting me?” There’s an awkward silence around the cell block and Merle knows no one can meet Daryl’s eyes right now. His brother was a feisty shit when he wanted to be. “You people all like who I am? Well that’s all because of him, he made me who I am today and if ya’ll want me as a part of this family then you need to let him in too. Merle was here first and you all need to save your sorries for him, because he didn’t deserve any of that crap you said. He’s my brother, he’s protected me all my life and now it’s my turn to defend him for once, even if it’s from my so called family. So think about how you’re going to apologise to Merle for what you said, and don’t you ever say shit like that again. You mess with Merle, you mess with me and I ain’t having it.”

There’s a murmur around the cellblock, various mutterings of apologies, Merle can hear Glenn trying to explain himself but Daryl isn’t having it and he can hear when his brother turns on his heel a stomps off, still ever the child. Slipping back a little he tries to make it seem as if he hadn’t been listening to his little speech. Rounding the corner to find Daryl and grinning to him a little. “Everything alright?” He asks, trying to look innocent but he can see exactly how well that works when Daryl snorts at him.

“You know you tramp about like an elephant right? Could hear you following me a mile off, don’t insult me by pretending you weren’t listening.” His brother walks past him, nudging his shoulder and gesturing for Merle to follow him. “I got it covered, lets go kill some walkers, clear the fence a bit.” Daryl tells him and he follows his brother out to the yard, a smirk on his face and that spike of pride inside of him flares a little more. Sure they weren’t perfect, but he was damn proud of who Daryl had become and he’d do anything he had to in order to ensure that his brother continued surviving this world. He’d gotten him this far through his life, so he figured heck he must have been doing something right.

Walking alongside Daryl he can’t help but pat at his shoulder for a moment, just enjoying being there beside his brother and glad they were together if only for the time being.


End file.
